The Flute's Song
by EmiliasStories
Summary: In the cold depths of an underground cavern, a mysterious find sets Zane's circuits on the fritz. After he turns against his ninja brothers and the rest of the city, Kai, Cole, Lloyd and Jay must find a way to bring their friend back to reality. But will they cure the ninja of ice before he hurts some one near and dear to him?
1. Chapter 1

"Man," an exhausted Jay said as he threw open the apartment door and stepped inside. "That was the third robbery this month!"

"When are criminals gonna learn?" Kai said following him in. "We patrol this city, and we're always gonna be there to whoop their butts!" Kai pretended to give the air a "one-two" punch.

"You'd think they'd let up with us around," Cole added as he, Zane and Lloyd piled into the apartment also. Cole patted Kai's shoulder as he walked by him.

"Who wants Lemonade?" Jay offered, opening the fridge. Kai flopped onto the couch.

"Geez, it's so hot in here," he complained. "Open a window!" Zane quickly followed Kai's command.

"It's been kind of quiet after the snakes disappeared," Lloyd mentioned while taking a cold glass of lemonade from Jay. "And since my dad turned good…"

Zane nodded. "There are no more threats now." Jay snickered, and then added:

"Just a couple of examples of how NOT to rob a store!"

There was silence for a few moments.

"We need to do something with our lives," Kai said while Cole picked up his feet, sat down, and returned his feet to his own lap.

"What is there to do other than fight crime?" Jay asked after taking a sip of his lemony beverage.

"We need to be around in case someone needs our help," added Zane. "So options are limited."

As the ninjas discussed future activities, something was stirring deep under the earth. Far down below the surface, snakes circled in a small cavern. For months they had been locked underground with no signs of escape. It was this particular day though, that everything changed. While slithering around, one of the snake minions overturned a particular rock that uncovered a small, thin, flute-like tube. Upon further investigation, a tiny hole in rocky walls that surrounded them was found; just big enough for the flute piece.

"Thisss hole," spoke one of the snakes. "There'ssss a draft coming from it." He observed the raised carvings from around the discovery.

"Sssso there isss," another snake said. The two looked at one another before inserting the flute into the hole.

An extremely loud, high pitch ring shook the cavern. It rattled the rocks and shivered the streets above. It cracked windows in buildings and cars, and all the people of the city stopped to cover their ears, including the ninjas.

"Ow! What's that horrible sound?!" Jay yelled over the flute's song. Kai let out a pained yell in return. Lloyd doubled over slightly, wincing at his throbbing ears. Cole's eyes rolled back, and a splitting headache followed. He believed his ears would soon begin to bleed if the sound would not quit.

Zane's reaction was different. He simply stood and watched his ninja brothers writhe in pain. But as time progressed, his circuits began to give in, and with a simple twitch his eyes went dark.

Just as suddenly as it began, the noise stopped.

The ninjas slowly collected themselves. Lloyd was the first to open his eyes and look around. Jay shook out his entire body.

"Is everyone okay?" Lloyd asked with concern. Kai blinked next, and then turned to Cole, who had a rather calm look to him. Kai gently shook his shoulder.

"Cole," he spoke softly, as if the volume of the flute muted his words. Cole could only reply with a pained groan as his headache continued. Kai looked toward the others. "Do we have any aspirin?"

Kai, Lloyd and Jay's eyes all darted toward Zane as a sudden gesture caught their attention. Zane's head jerked up; his eyes were blank still. Jay cautiously spoke: "Zane?" But there was no answer. Jay broke the tension that was created by Zane's odd behavior and walked over to the ninja of ice. Lloyd held his breath as Jay placed at hand on Zane's shoulder, only to have it quickly grabbed by Zane himself.

"O-Ow, dude," Jay stuttered, his face slowly contorting into pain. "Zane, you're hurting me!"

Zane didn't turn his head. He simply grinned. Kai shot up from the couch. The grin was evil.

Before Kai could react, Zane had pulled Jay's wrist down across the front on him and kneed him in the stomach, dropping the pained blue ninja to the floor. He leaped over Jay and threw a punch at Kai, who swiftly grabbed it and returned a blow only to have it blocked. With every hit attempt, there was a block to seize it. Zane finally tripped Kai to the floor. Lloyd's face turned from fear to determination.

"Zane, I don't want to hurt you," he began. He took a stance and continued: "But if you continue to hurt my friends, you leave me no choice." Zane simply smiled at him. Lloyd developed a small orb of power in his hands and fired it at the possessed ninja, who simply created an ice shield and shot it right back at the green ninja. Lloyd quickly jumped to the side, narrowly missing his own power orb. An evil metallic laugh croaked from Zane. Cole slowly stood up, but Kai, who was now on his hands and knees, gave him a look. _Sit back down_ it seemed to say. _You are in no condition to fight._

Zane scoped the room one more time. A defeated Jay lay on the floor staring at the ceiling, Kai panted as he got to his feet, Lloyd stood back and carefully watched Zane, and Cole sat holding his head. He smiled, as if he approved of the sight and then ran towards the open window and dived out. Lloyd ran over and watched with wide eyes. "He's going to kill himself!"


	2. Chapter 2

Zane hit the street hard. The asphalt crumbled beneath him and formed into a large crater. His metallic body absorbed the shock. He straightened up and paused before using his powers to their full extent. He grinned wide and broke out in laughter as he began to freeze all the innocent citizens of the city. They ran screaming from the ninja that once saved them.

Kai helped the blue ninja up from the floor. "Are you all right, Jay?" Jay nodded.

"That was weird," he concluded, looking around the apartment. Kai then made his way over to Cole as Lloyd got closer to Jay. Cole looked up at his friends, his vision slightly blurry.

"He's going to hurt someone," Cole said slowly. "You guys need to go stop him!"

"How do we do it without hurting him?" Lloyd asked.

"I think he bruised my stomach," Jay mumbled while patting his abdomen. Cole let out a groan as his severe headache returned. Kai put on his ninja hood.

"Well, someone needs to put him in his place," he began. A loud crash followed by car sirens could be heard from the streets below. "And fast." He bolted for the door.

"Kai, wait!" Lloyd was too late. The fiery ninja was gone. Cole stood up again only to be pushed back down by Jay.

"Take the day off. We got this." Jay gave him a reassuring smile, then put on his own blue hood and ran out the door. Cole watched Jay leave with sad yet pained eyes, disappointed that he could not join his friends.

"Just rest, Cole! You need it!" Lloyd yelled back as he followed Jay out the door. The excited ninjas flew down the stairs of the apartment building. When they finally got to the ground floor, though, they bumped right into Kai, who stood in awe and disbelief at the sight in front of him. Entire buildings were engulfed in ice.

Jay stuttered. "He...he's insane!" There was silence for the next few seconds, and then it was abruptly broken by Zane's shrill laughter in the distance.

"Lloyd, get your dragon," Kai said. "I have a plan."

"Hey, you!" Jay yelled, waving his arms to attract Zane's attention. "Hey, tin can! Look at me!" Zane stopped his flow of ice on the half frozen car and snapped his head in Jay's direction. A crooked smile appeared on his face as he walked over to the ninja of lightning. "Ninja-GO!" Jay spun towards Zane at a high speed. Zane did the same. They clashed and fought for power, but it was Jay who went flying backwards with a yell. At this rate, defeating Zane seemed impossible.

Zane laughed once more at Jay got to his feet, and then threw shards of ice at Jay. While Jay covered his face, none of the shards hit him, and instead landed on the sides of him. Once he knew Zane missed, Jay stood tall and laughed.

"You'd think a robot would have better-" he began, but the crackling of ice cut him off. The shards grew bigger, and then froze Jay's feet right to the ground. Jay's eyes widened. "Uh-oh...!"

Zane stepped toward Jay, and then let out an angered, metal yell in pain. He turned and glared at Kai, who had burned his back with a whip of fire.

Kai smirked. "Fire melts ice." Zane formed a sphere of ice, and blasted its frosty air towards Kai. The red ninja preformed the same attack with his own element, and they canceled out. But Zane got stronger, and the harder he pushed, the harder it became for Kai to strike back. Soon enough the column of fire was down to a flame and Kai's hands began to freeze.

"Jay!" Kai yelled in panic. "Do something!"

"I'm kind of stuck here, you know," Jay said, crossing his arms. He glanced around as a shadow came over them, and smiled at the sight of Lloyd on his dragon. The four-headed beast swooped over in a blink of an eye, grabbing Zane and soaring high up above the buildings. The temperamental ice ninja squirmed and struggled, resorting to freezing the dragon's feet in order to break free. He hit the roof of a sky-scraper, leaving a decent sized dent. Lloyd jumped down also, landing in a fighting stance.

"Zane," he began with a calm voice. "It's me; it's Lloyd." Zane seemed unchanged. He shot several ice shards at Lloyd, who quickly drew up a power shield to deflect them. A few more of Zane's attacks were terminated by Lloyd. "Zane, please…"

"Enough," was the first thing Zane said in his evil state. It was his normal voice echoed by machine. Zane jumped at Lloyd. The two of them fought long and hard, as they were about equally matched.

Kai slowly melted the ice around Jay's feet. "He's tough!" Kai added. "How are we going to get him back?"

"Maybe we really do need Cole's help," Jay suggested.

"He's way too weak," Kai said. "I don't want him getting hurt." Kai glanced up at the building of which Zane fought the green ninja, then at the dark clouds behind it. "Looks like a storm is coming," Kai said uneasily. "They better finish up soon."

Lightning flashed away and thunder roared as the vigorous battle continued. Zane had burns and scrapes, while Lloyd obtained rips in his ninja suit as well as cuts to his skin from sharp ice. _The evil is so strong in him!_ Lloyd thought after he did a back hand-spring to avoid a speeding shard of ice that resembled Zane's beloved shuriken. Feeling the vibrations of a huge crackle of thunder throughout his entire body made Lloyd flinch, and Zane saw his chance. He jumped and spun, then landed and lunged his hands forward, blowing Lloyd back to the edge of the roof with a mighty frozen wind. When Lloyd looked opened his eyes, he noticed the lack of space between him and a thirty-story drop to the ground. Swallowing hard, he looked at Zane, who strolled over to the helpless boy with his wicked sneer. Zane wrapped his hand gingerly around Lloyd's neck before tightening his grip and holding the boy up over the edge. Lloyd panicked and grabbed at Zane's hand, kicking his feet and coughing lightly. He knew if suffocation didn't kill him, the drop would.

Kai was just as terrified. His mind raced. "Jay!" He yelled out of fear. "Direct the lighting into Zane!"

"Now you sound as crazy as Zane!" Jay remarked. "There's no way that'll work! It'll kill them both!"

"Just try it!" Kai screamed. "Before Zane does some real damage!"

The shaking blue ninja focused on the storm clouds that loomed over the city. He stuck out his hand and waited for the right moment. Kai grew more and more uneasy by the millisecond. "Hurry up, Jay!" He said; his words were fast. "Do it now!"

Jay tightened his hand and dragged it across the front of him. A large flash told the boys that Jay had succeeded. Zane's body jerked and surged before finally sparking. His grip loosened, and Lloyd gasped as he felt himself slipping. His foot gently tapped the edge of the roof, and he transferred his weight onto it, stepping onto the ledge. But all in a moment, Zane unconsciously fell forward. The green ninja yelled out as he and Zane's hard metal body plummeted towards the earth. He shut his watery eyes and clung to Zane tightly, praying his friends would think fast.


	3. Chapter 3

The soil rumbled beneath the feet of the ninja as a pillar of rock shot up from the ground. It met the green and white ninja as they fell, slightly cushioning the near fatal fall. Then the column returned to the earth. Kai and Jay looked at one another with their eyes wide in awe. Cole walked up behind them with his arms crossed. His deep voice made both ninjas jump.

"Don't need me, eh?" The duo stared at Cole with a loss for words. He smacked the back of both their heads, and then walked over to Zane and Lloyd. Lloyd slowly pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, hovering over the defeated nindroid. His eyes searched Zane for any sign of life. He tried to say Zane's name, but the near death experience temporarily took his voice. Cole kneeled down and helped the green ninja to his feet.

"He can be saved," Cole began. "Jay's great with machines; Zane will be back up in no time." Lloyd could only nod, and Cole rubbed his shoulder gently. Jay and Kai met up with them and Jay assessed the damage done to Zane.

"His circuits are just fried," Jay said. "Easy fix."

"Maybe you can find out what made him flip in the first place," Kai suggested. Cole scooped up the limp ice ninja and threw him onto his shoulder before walking back to the ninjas' apartment. The others followed him.

Once they all arrived home, the ninjas cleared the kitchen table and Cole gently laid Zane onto it. Jay got to work on the mess of wires in Zane's robot stomach, while Kai helped clean up Lloyd's wounds. Lloyd kept his eyes on the floor. Kai frowned.

"Chill out, Lloyd," he stated. "You barely even touched him." Kai poured a little alcohol on a swab, and then pressed it against one of the open cuts. Lloyd took in air sharply and shut his eyes.

"No one should ever have to fight their brother in arms..!" Lloyd managed to say through gritted teeth. Kai thought about it and nodded.

"You're right," Kai admitted. "You fought well at least."

"That's all you care about?" Lloyd snapped. "I could have seriously hurt him!" Kai rolled his eyes and applied more alcohol to the swab, carelessly pressing it against another of Lloyd cuts, making him groan sharply. "You could have been seriously hurt," Kai replied. Lloyd said nothing in return. The silence became thicker and thicker as the seconds passed. Kai decided to cut into it by putting the bottle and swab down so he could wrap his arms gently around the green ninja. It surprised Lloyd, but he didn't object. It wasn't every day that Kai gave hugs.

"He's gonna be fine, Lloyd," Kai said definitely. Then Kai let go and walked to his bedroom. Lloyd sat for a few minutes alone in the bathroom while his stream of consciousness flowed. When his body felt as though it could do it, he got up and walked into the kitchen, simply sitting at the table, intently watching Jay work. Jay tediously replaced wires and tightened screws, glancing for split seconds at the concerned look pasted on Lloyd's face.

Jay could tell Lloyd was about to speak. Before he muttered a sound, Jay interrupted him: "It's going to take a _while_, bud." Lloyd merely released the air he had taken in to speak in a soft sigh. Cole, who stood next to Jay to help, watched Lloyd put his head down gently on the table. He frowned when the chosen ninja closed his watery eyes, and then turned his attention to Zane's cold, lifeless face.

"Lloyd," someone said softly. The blonde haired boy groaned softly, swatting at the hand that shook his shoulder. He then yawned and rubbed his eyes, sitting up. "Hm?" he murmured. Lloyd glanced at his fellow ninjas as they circled around the table, each staring at the boy with a smile to match their personality. "What's going on? Is Zane okay?"

"Perhaps you should be telling me, my tired friend," a voice rang beside Lloyd. Lloyd's head snapped in the direction of the words. Zane stood with a soft, caring, perfect grin. Lloyd seemed to be frozen by the ice's ninja's eyes. He could only utter a small, whimper-like sound before shooting up from the chair and instantly clinging to Zane. Zane held Lloyd close and petted his soft hair. "You had no need to worry, Lloyd." Warm tears ran down Lloyd's cheeks.

"It definitely took some work," Jay began. He smiled down at a grease-stained rag his hands fumbled with. "Zane isn't the simplest machine I've worked with." Lloyd quietly thanked Jay and gripped Zane's white ninja suit tightly. Zane closed his eyes, slowly stroking Lloyd's silky hair. The romantic moment was short lived, for the rumbling of Cole's stomach roared through the room. All eyes turned to him as he blushed slightly and swallowed.

"I…guess I'm just a bit hungry…!" he replied as an excuse, smiling sheepishly. Lloyd wiped his eyes and chuckled softly. Zane was happy to see Lloyd smile. He glanced at the others.

"I shall begin making dinner, then!" he said happily. Kai, Jay, Cole and Lloyd smiled excitedly. Kai pulled out a kitchen chair and slid into it, putting his feet up onto the table.

"While we have dinner, maybe we could discuss what we should do with our lives."

A crackle was heard throughout the cavern as the last rock was chipped away. The high pitched song of the flute under the earth loosened the rocks that trapped the snakes. Their leader, Pythor, was the first to slither out of the entrance to the cavern. He grinned wildly.

"This is it, boys!" he yelled back to his remaining army. They cheered to him as he said what they've waited months to hear. _"This is our new beginning!"_


End file.
